Rubric best practices for creating a fair and balanced assessment

Portfolio assessment often involves multiple assessors, and a scoring rubric can help provide specific criteria to guarantee consistency in the process.

Rubrics serve as an essential tool for impartial and well-rounded assessment, and can accurately assess the quality of an individual’s work on predefined criteria and a set of proficiency levels.     

But an impartial rubric doesn’t happen on its own. It must be created with equity and fairness in mind. Here, we’ll go over some best practices on how best to do this. 

1. Prioritise criteria setting, consistency and transparency

The first practice is to define specific objectives or criteria that align with the ultimate goals of the assessment. These objectives should be ascertainable, measurable and directly related to what you want the assessed to achieve or demonstrate. 

It’s important to ensure consistency in both language and expectations throughout the rubric. It makes sure all assessed persons are being held to the same standards and evaluated using the same criteria. It also reduces the possibility of subjectivity in the evaluation process. 

Transparency is crucial for a fair and balanced assessment. It’s helpful to make your rubrics available in advance. This provides a solid idea of how the work will be evaluated and also boosts the chances of high-quality assignments and performances.  

2. Keep it simple

Simplicity is key to the scoring rubric’s effectiveness; don’t complicate it.

A good way to ensure simplicity when creating your rubric is by focusing on the essential criteria that align with the evaluation goals. Having too many criteria can prove overwhelming for both the assessors and the assessed. 

Ensure that your criteria are distinct and do not encroach on one another. Overlapping criteria creates confusion, making it challenging for assessors to differentiate between performance levels. 

Visual clarity matters. Some tips for this: 

• Use tables or grids for organised presentation
• Avoid too many columns
• Use clear headings
• Implement consistent formatting

To achieve this, you can use a scoring rubric template. For reliable scoring rubric examples, check out the AACU VALUE Rubrics. 

Choose a simple scoring system based on a numerical scale or clear descriptive words. Don’t repeat the same information across criteria or proficiency levels to avoid confusion.    

3. Implement a holistic approach

For a fair and balanced assessment, your scoring rubric should evaluate different aspects of performance. By assessing different criteria, every relevant facet of the portfolio or task will be sufficiently reviewed. 

Your criteria, of course, will depend on your subject matter. For example, a literary work could be assessed on grammar, imagery, coherence, creativity and content, while a stage performance could be assessed on creativity, audibility, confidence and charisma. 

Whatever the case, a multidimensional approach guarantees a holistic assessment that looks at the submission from all angles. 

4. Use suitable language

To reduce subjectivity and possible bias to the barest minimum, it’s vital to use appropriate language. Clear, objective and neutral language ensures objectivity. Instead of using subjective terms that can be interpreted differently, consider qualitative and quantitative indicators that erase confusion.

Take note of the potential cultural biases inherent in language. Be mindful not to use words that unintentionally favour certain groups of persons, place some others at a disadvantage or sound exclusive. 

Also, avoid ambiguous language that doesn’t provide sufficient guidance. Both the assessors and the assessed need to easily understand the context of every term used. Steer clear of jargon or overly technical terms that might create confusion.    

5. Test and tweak before going live 

Before putting your scoring rubric to use, consider conducting a test to gauge the efficiency. This test will uncover any possible issues with the clarity, validity or reliability of the rubric. It also affords the opportunity to gather feedback from your review team. With all the insight gathered, you can effectively make adjustments to create a perfect rubric.

Need further help in assessing submissions or portfolios? Learn more about Award Force portfolio assessment software.